


Masked

by writingwithmolls



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), look I just cannot believe that Dorothea would leave Edie and that is that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23831863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingwithmolls/pseuds/writingwithmolls
Summary: Dorothea uncovers Edelgard's plan.Edelgard is supposed to be invincible, but she watches as the Flame Emperor crumbles in front of her eyes.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 4
Kudos: 99





	Masked

“I don’t care much for the religious aspect at all,” Dorothea said as she continued to shift through Edelgard’s wardrobe of rich fabrics, “it’s the aesthetics. It’s the acoustics—”

“—it’s the feeling of disappointing the goddess in her home,” Edelgard finished, knowing Dorothea’s speech a bit  _ too _ well. The last time it was in reference to a rendevouz in the chapel, the songstress truly making herself at home right under the glare of the golden saints.

“Thank you, Edie.”

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with me dressing up,” Edelgard said and Dorothea just laughed, continuing to go through her friends clothing. She was always a bit jealous of the wardrobe; Edelgard didn’t bring up  _ too many _ nice clothes, but it was enough for the songstress’s heart to swoon. It reminded her of the rented outfits that she would wear in the opera as the crowd watched her perform.

“For the mass it’s more of a performance than anything. Sure, we’re there to ‘honor the goddess,’ but we are really there to look gorgeous and perhaps leave with a lover.” Dorothea winked.

“I don’t know what part of our last conversation went over your head,” Edelgard said, but she was still laughing at Dorothea’s antics. The songstress continued to dig through the drawers, shifting through blouses, underclothes, and her more casual sleepwear. She admittedly had never seen Edelgard in most of these things, she defaulted to her school uniform. Her house leader offered to lend her the clothes, but they were far too small. Dorothea couldn’t say no to occasionally wearing her jewelry, however.

“Edie, you will look even more breathtaking without being held back by this uniform.”

“As will you,” Edelgard said.

Dorothea pushed her way through the drawer, finally reaching the bottom. Her hand hit something hard.

She fished it out.

Dorothea’s breath caught as she held the mask in her hands: the smooth white face of it marred by the red marks. Edelgard was still talking, unaware of what Dorothea was holding. She could just bury it back in the drawer—forget that she had seen in.

“Hm, you’re not listening,” Edelgard said, her voice still cheery. “Dorothea?”

“Why?” Dorothea managed. It was the only word she uttered as she turned, holding up the mask. The Flame Emperor froze, her smile quickly falling from her face. “Edie, please,” she said, taking in a shaky breath.

Edelgard just sat down on her bed, watching as the songstress fidgeted with the mask in her hands. It was lighter than expected—almost like a child’s toy. Dorothea wanted answers, it was making her angry as she watched her friend just sit there. It had to be some sort of a joke, right? Or it belonged to someone else. Of course, Edelgard wasn’t one to let people into her private quarters and she sure wasn’t one to pull a silly prank.

“Just tell me that this isn’t the Flame Emperor’s mask,” Dorothea said, but her words hitched at the end. She didn’t like the silence of the room.

“You shouldn’t have seen that,” Edelgard finally said, sitting up straight on her bed. Her eyes drifted to her nightstand, where she had told Dorothea she kept a knife for protection. Dorothea felt the chill run down her spine, already feeling as if the blade was closing in.

“You’re going to kill me,” Dorothea said, not bothering to phrase it as a question. She saw her friend on the battlefield, her beautiful and ruthless friend. “Why? Why would you do this, Edie?” Dorothea felt the tears in her eyes, doing her best to hold them back. The Flame Emperor, he—well,  _ she _ —had caused so much pain for them. For the monastery.

“I don’t have a choice,” Edelgard said and Dorothea couldn’t tell which part of her questions she was responding to. 

“Who’s making you do this?” she asked, considering there was a choice involved.

“It’s my own decision.” Edelgard stood, snatching the mask from her hands and shoving it back in the drawer. Dorothea jumped as it slammed shut,  _ knowing _ that she should run, but not willing to. This was  _ Edie _ she was talking about. The house leader who had heart eyes for their teacher and trained hard and sat still long enough for Dorothea to play with her hair. Sure, she was strict, but she was just  _ Edie _ . The girl who never had been in love, but said that she would be excited by a future with Dorothea.

“Edie, it’s okay, you can tell me,” she said, but the blonde turned away. “You can tell me anything, you know that.”

“If Hubert finds out you know, you will be dead.”

“Oh, so it’s Hubie?” She felt her voice raise and the other hushed her.

“Hubert works for  _ me _ . He will see this plan through to the end, even if I am too weak.” Dorothea could see her muscles tense and against better judgement, she put her hand on the shorter woman’s shoulder. She flinched, but didn’t bat her away like Dorothea had been expecting. “Dorothea, you  _ can’t _ know about this.”

“And I do,” she said, sadly. Her mind was spinning and she wanted nothing more than to scream at Edelgard for her betrayal, but she knew that there was something more. “Why would you do this, Edie?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation.” She turned, letting Dorothea’s hand fall from her shoulder. Her face looked pained and her eyes kept darting anywhere but at her friend.

“You don’t, but you’re going to kill me.”

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“You said that Hubie would if he—”

“That’s Hubert—”

“And if he finds it so important that no one knows, then why wouldn’t you?” Dorothea raised her voice. She felt bad when the future emperor flinched, but then her face hardened. “Are you really going to strike down your friends?  _ Are we friends? _ ”

Edelgard stared at her and then laughed. It was a stressed sound, one that didn’t reach her eyes. “Dorothea, of course I want to be your friend,” her voice was strained, “but I think they were all right about me getting too attached. I just wanted to live a normal school life with all of you.” Dorothea felt a pang in her heart when tears fell from her eyes. She wiped them away with the backs of her hands, still laughing to herself. “I just thought I could do this  _ and _ live a normal life. Just for a year, you know? I could be normal: have friends, go to class, even just go to this stupid mass to pray for a goddess who has forsaken me.”

“Edie…” Dorothea trailed off, not knowing if she should hug her friend. On one hand, she knew that she couldn’t leave her to suffer alone. The other hand was the possibility of a literal knife in her back.

“You look terrified,” Edelgard said, practically crumbling into herself. “Am I really that scary?”

“The Flame Emperor has claimed many lives. Remire Village—”

“I need to work with those people, there’s no other way for me to succeed,” Edelgard said. She was still looking at Dorothea strangely as if analyzing her. She had stopped crying, the momentary burst of emotions showed on her damp cheeks and watery eyes. “I need my plan to work.”

“Why?” Dorothea repeated. She couldn’t fathom what kind of plan was worth destroying a village like that. She had watched the villagers scream—being attacked as their homes burned to the ground. It was gruesome. “Edie, this isn’t like you.”

“You don’t know who I am,” Edelgard said, regaining her composure. “Dorothea, forget that you saw this,” she commanded, “then nothing can happen to you.”

“I can help you.”

“There’s nothing that you can do.”

“Then at the  _ very _ least, confide in me.” Dorothea took her hand and Edelgard yanked it away. That hurt. “I’m your friend, Edie.”

Edelgard looked at her, but just hung her head. “Dorothea, just forget it.  _ Please _ .” Her voice cracked.

“I’m not going to forget,” Dorothea said—whispered. The room was quiet and outside they could hear the sounds of students wandering the monastery. The sounds of their friends. “If you’re hurting, Edie, I’m not going to be able to forget.”

Dorothea hugged her this time, relaxing when Edelgard hung her head and leaned into her. Edelgard muttered, “It’s hard.”

“I know,” Dorothea said. “You don’t have to tell me now. But you need to understand that so many of us would be on your side if you just spoke up.”

Regardless of the mask tucked away in the drawer, this was  _ her Edie _ . Dorothea could tell that she was hurting, she had never seen her break down like that. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but even with the mounting evidence she knew that Edelgard had to have a reason. She was stubborn to a fault, but who would she be to doubt?

“I will tell you… not tonight,” Edelgard said. Her voice was muffled by her shirt and Dorothea could feel her sobbing again. “I need to be stronger. This won’t do.”

“You’re strong,” Dorothea promised. “I won’t let you do this alone.”

And Dorothea didn’t let her do it alone. She held the girl when she cried over nightmares, listened to the tale of abuse and experiments she went through. She was by Edelgard’s side when she revealed her plan and knew regardless of where her class went… Dorothea would stand by her emperor.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! My name is Molly and I'm an author who writes about wlw <3
> 
> If you like my work, please support me by following @ mollymariewrites on Instagram! There you can find my Twitter, my published work, as well as get updates about my various sapphic own-voices projects! Thank you so much for your help <3


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